Since the pandemic began, one of our highest priorities as an agency has been to ensure our clients and our community have food security. The JFCS Sonny & Janet Meyer Food Pantry adapted our traditional shopping model to pivot to a contactless drop-off and delivery service and we expanded our open food pantry to our surrounding zip codes for any community member who may need supplemental food.
We purchase staple food pantry items from Dare to Care, and community donations supplement the pantry with variety and specialty items. Through the value of Kehilah, connections that build community, our friends at Temple Shalom have shown us how a community can come together for a good cause – and some good BINGO fun!
Ed Gould and John Silletto from Temple Shalom began the Bingo Project in 2019 with 80 other Temple Shalom volunteers. After pausing during the height of the pandemic, they resumed collecting food and personal care items in May of 2021 and the results have been astonishing. In 52 sessions, the Bingo Project has raised over $100,000 for Temple Shalom and collected and donated over 2,500 pounds of food and supplies to the Sonny & Janet Meyer Food Pantry.
This collection effort doesn’t just magically happen – it is the product of Kehilah in action. First, JFCS Volunteer Manager Avery Markel emails Ed weekly to inform him of any food or personal care items that our pantry especially needs. Ed selects three of the most needed items and messages them to the over 900 Bingo players on his ever-growing mailing list. Any player who donates one of the special items receives a Deluxe Bingo Dauber in return (and any true Bingo aficionado knows that dauber quality makes all the difference). After collecting about 90 food items weekly, superstar volunteer Tami Penner delivers the items to JFCS, where they are weighed and shelved. Now the food is ready for our clients. In just the past two months, over 100 households have received deliveries or shopped for food in-person.
We graciously thank Ed Gould, John Silletto, all the volunteers from the Temple Shalom Bingo Project, and, most importantly, the players who donated food and supplies to JFCS. When the community was asked, they delivered. Just last month over 3,800 pounds of food were distributed to our clients, and the amazing volunteers and bingo players helped make it happen.
If you’d like to learn more about The Bingo Project, please contact Ed Gould. Bingo is held Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at Breckinridge Bingo Hall at 3441 Breckinridge Lane. Visit the Facebook Page here!
On Monday, February 14th, the Louisville Courier-Journal published an op-ed co-authored by JFCS CEO David L. Finke, Ph.D. and the Louisville Urban League President & CEO Sadiqa Reynolds focusing on HB 63, currently being debated in the state legislature. This bill would require armed officers in all Kentucky public schools.
We state plainly that this bill is dangerous and the focus of the state legislators should be creating opportunities for students to access mental health services, from trained social workers, counselors and nurses inside the school to resources for parents to get help at home. We know there’s a mental health crisis among young people and believe that schools working with local agencies, like JFCS and the Louisville Urban League, will start to confront this issue. From the article:
“In December of 2021, the US Surgeon General issued an advisory on the mental health crisis amongst students in the country. The ongoing effects of the pandemic coupled with the lack of resources available through schools have shown a dramatic increase in already overwhelming numbers for struggling students. According to The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, in Louisville alone, since 2020 there has been a 300% increase of pediatric patients admitted for self-harm. Anxiety and depression are significantly higher than before the pandemic due to isolation, uncertainty of the future and losing caregivers or loved ones to COVID-19. Furthermore, the racial reckoning that has taken place in Louisville has brought racial discussion to the forefront of conversation, furthering the stress and despair our Louisville youth experience.”
Read the entire op-ed here.
Two years into the pandemic, it’s safe to say that most of us are really feeling the weight of it all: balancing work, family, friends, and health during ever-changing circumstances. It has taken its toll. Division is everywhere and the stress can feel overwhelming. We can turn on the TV or look online for animosity any day. What we and our community need more than ever is simple kindness.
Next week JFCS will recognize Random Acts of Kindness Week and celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day on Thursday, February 17th. As we do so, we’ll embody the value of Chesed – one of the Jewish values that guides our work – in striving for actions rooted in empathy and compassion. Visit our social media platforms for creative and fun ideas on how to spread kindness through Chesed.
Kindness is a choice, many times a brave one in a world where hostility seems like the only option. Over the next week, let’s think of ways we can spread kindness. Whether it’s holding the door open for someone, letting another driver take the good parking spot, calling a relative to check in or paying it forward at Starbucks. Let’s live through the value of Chesed and act with empathy and compassion for others. A small and random act of kindness can have a never-ending ripple effect.
How will you spread kindness?
JFCS is proud to share that our CEO, David L. Finke, Ph. D., was selected by the Community Foundation of Louisville as a 2022 Alden Fellow. Since 2014, the Community Foundation of Louisville has selected nonprofit leaders by invitation annually to become Alden Fellows. These nonprofit executive directors, presidents and CEOs develop a plan for their professional and personal growth that will elevate their work as a leader, benefit their organization and impact their community.
Alden Fellows receive executive coaching and fellowship awards to help fund the implementation of the plan. David will complete a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate through the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership. “I’m honored to receive this opportunity made possible by the Alden Fellowship at the Community Foundation of Louisville,” David said. “This fellowship will allow me to grow as a leader and support the amazing work JFCS does for our community. I look forward to sharing new ideas and strategies with our staff.”
You can learn more about the Alden Fellows here. Congratulations, David!